Through two prior coaching transitions and based on what we tend to see nationally, there was little reason to expect Huskers to gain ground on their division in recruiting after they decided to hire a new coaching staff. Nevertheless, that's exactly what happened. Despite being tied for the smallest class in the division, NU's group was ranked the highest by the major recruiting services. Continue →

National letter of intent signing day always brings its share of suspense. Even though players have given verbal commitments, there could always be an 11th hour change of heart. Occasionally, a player not on the radar of fans appear. Of course, you also have the kids who are either tortured enough or narcissistic enough to postpone their decision of which school to attend until signing day. At least two players are in doubt, one that had previously committed and one that hasn't. Continue →

The Huskers added four commitments to the class of 2015 over the weekend, just after linebacker Mohammed Barry became the sixteenth member of the class on Thursday. It brings the overall class size to 20, which would mean that the Huskers have "oversigned" by three (which isn't as bad as it sounds, more on that in a bit). Continue →

Generally speaking, when you obtain a verbal commitment from a player that a pair of divisional opponents have offered, that's a positive. If in the process, you can stick it to former Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach, all the better. Still, the star-gazing crowd may have been underwhelmed by yesterday's commitment from a player who received fewer than three stars from a couple of the major recruiting web sites. Continue →

A fair amount has transpired since the new coaching staff at Nebraska landed an oral commitment to attend NU from Oklahoma guard Jalin Barnett. The Davis twins reaffirmed their commitments to Nebraska. Given the arms race for good defensive tackles in college football, keeping a pair of guys that received high recruiting rankings is a huge win. The Huskers also went four for four with its early enrolless. Rescinding the offer to previously committed quarterback/tight end Kevin Dillman is probably addition by subraction. The decommitment of defensive end Reuben Jones was a step backward however. Continue →

The inactivity over the last month on this site could be summed up in one word. That word would be apathy. Bo Pelini’s string of four loss seasons had already deadened the part of the brain in this fan that forms great expectations. Then the hire of a coach whose best seasons were of the four loss variety left me uncomfortably numb. This week, the commitment of a single player turned the tide. Allow me to elaborate.

Not even six weeks ago, things were looking very different at Nebraska (not to mention Oregon State, Wisconsin, and Pitt). The Huskers hosted Purdue and were looking to add to a seven-point lead early in the first quarter. On fourth and goal from the 1-yard line, quarterback Tommy Armstrong fumbled a snap that Abdullah attempted to recover. Abdullah, a leading Heisman candidate at the time, injured his knee on the play and was not the same player thereafter. Likewise, NU was not the same team and by season's end they saw their head coach fired for failing to win games that matter most. Continue →

No fan likes seeing their team lose for any reason, but one of the hardest things to watch at Nebraska at Bo Pelini has been the number of games where the Huskers have lost the turnover battle. If Mike Riley's track record at Oregon State is any indication, those days could be over. Continue →

My initial reaction to the hiring of Mike Riley as Nebraska's head coach was neither enthusiastic nor positive. Nevertheless, Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst clearly found compelling reasons to consider him an upgrade from Bo Pelini. Here are is some evidence to support that conclusion. Continue →

While I'm hoping to heaven this is somehow all a big mistake, it appears that Oregon State's Mike Riley will be the next head coach at Nebraska. It was just reported on Omaha's 1620 the Zone. Continue →

There have been a number of people who dislike the idea of hiring a top assistant coach over one with head coaching experience. The logic is that Nebraska shouldn't have to pay someone to learn on the job and presumably that the assistant's inexperience will show. The fallacy of the argument is that there are numerous counterexamples of great hires that have come from the ranks of assistants. Even in cases where those assistants didn't pan out, you often wouldn't lay the blame at their inexperience (versus other factors). Continue →